Italy fought off a determined challenge to seal a five-wicket win against hosts Finland. Chasing 142, Italy were in some trouble at 89 for 5 despite a half century from Marcus Campopiano (5 fours, 2 sixes) and 21 from Joy Perera. Peter Gallagher’s two wickets in an over had Finland on top but Player/Coach Gareth Berg rescued the situation with an unbeaten 39 from 20 balls (5 fours, 1 six) adding 55 for the 6th wicket with Manpreet Singh (17*) to seal the win in the 18th over.

Earlier, Finland’s total of 141 for 6 had been based around Aravind Mohan’s 61 which included 6 sixes, and Matthew Jenkinson’s 27. The performance will give Finland hope for their remaining games.

The Isle of Man made it two wins out of two after they beat Serbia by 68 runs. The Manxmen’s total of 165 for 7 was built around a fine 60 from George Burrows, who hit 8 boundaries in his 60 from 46 balls. He shared a third wicket stand of 71 with Carl Hartmann (23), while Nathan Knights and Edward Beard made 27 apiece. Ani Mene-Ejegi(4-30) was the pick of the Serbian attack.

The Serbs in reply were restricted to 97 for 7, with Simo Ivetic top scoring with 29, and Matthew Ansell (2-10) and Chris Langford (2-19) taking two wickets apiece.

Cyprus beat Romania by 20 runs in a game that could have gone either way. Akila De Silva Kalugala and Scott Austin each scored 34, while Muhammad Shoaib Ahmed made 30 as the Island side made 154 for 8. Satwick Nadigotia (3-30) was the most successful of the Romanian attack.

The chase was in trouble at 34 for 4, but a stand of 54 between Vasu Saini (27) and Abdul Shakoor (25) gave them the platform for a late charge. However three wickets for Gurpartap Singh, and two apiece for Tejwinder Singh, Neeraj Tiwari, and Shoaib Ahmed clinched the 20-run win.

Croatia’s return to European competition wasn’t a happy one as they slumped to an eight-wicket loss against Sweden. A slow start saw the opening pair of Chris Turkich and Sheldon Valjalo (14) put on 26, but take almost nine overs in doing so. They managed just three boundaries the entire innings, dismissed for just 69.

Zaker Taqawi was the destroyer-in-chief with 5 for 17, while Baz Ayubi took 2 for 14. Umar Nawaz hit 4 fours and a six in his 29 as Sweden clinched the win in the 10th over. John Vujnovich (2-26) claiming two consolation wickets.